For football fans, the summer months are a doldrums of things to help satisfy the hunger for games and content. OTAs for the pros aren't here yet and college teams are even less active with at bets Media days to fill the void. One of the best things the last two years though has been Netflix's Last Chance U. The program followed the premise of Hard Knocks, just at a prominent team at the JUCO level instead. The team at East Mississippi was filled with former Power-5 cast offs looking to spark an interest from other programs and fulfill the promise they tended to have in their recruiting rankings. The show was very well produced, and the players, coaches and Academic Advisor were all interesting and provided drama for a behind the scenes look at a football team already knowing how their season and attempts to move forward went.
Its an important show to watch for football fans, in large part because it gets beyond the field. It gives a look into some of the preparation for each week, and the grueling schedule and effort players and coaches must show. It also shows the absolute struggles some of these players come from, and how for many of them football is the only answer to moving on from it. The show is at its best showing the redemption stories of players having found themselves mired n addiction or violence, and finding a way to focus themselves back onto the right track and getting a degree and a possible shot at redemption.
The show moved on from Mississippi this year to Independence Community College in Kansas to follow Head Coach Jason Brown's second year of a turn around of the ICC team. ICC had been a doormat in one of the most competitive conferences at the JUCO level, but just a year in the expectations were set extremely high for the program. Without divulging spoilers, this season was not as good as the previous two iterations. The show needs strong characters to attach to, and this season lacked a likability of many of the featured players and coaches. Jason Brown was more abrasive than Buddy Stephens, and the show showed only glimpses of the care he put into the players. The season also expends a lot of time following him, when the previous years had a better mixture between the players and coaches. It probably isn't helped that most of the players the show follows are sulky at their position in the program, instead of becoming resilient like so many in the past.
Overall the move to ICC should help the show remain fresh, since these interest stories have trouble maintaining authenticity as more people find out about them. THis season though was light on the likability of the characters involved, and that hurt the show. Its still worth a watch to see into a different JUCO program and the struggles these players have, but hopefully next season sees a shift back to player focus and to more stories of off field triumphs. Below are a few more specifics but they come with a spoiler warning.
The major issue this year had that previous seasons didn't was that the QB at ICC was just about as unlikable as they come. Malik Henry sulks his way through the season, trash talks opponents at every opportunity. He doesn't back that kind of attitude up either, missing throws and generally being at least somewhat ineffective. He isn't interesting either as an anti-hero, because he just comes across as whiny. It hurts as well though that he is shown as the most competent QB on the Roster. Since the show devotes so much time to him and Coach Brown, it drags everything else down. Following him were Kingston Davis and Bobby Bruce. Both players got a lot of camera time, despite not having anything redemptive or interesting to say. Kingston whined about unfair playing time, despite being shown repeatedly not being at practice or in class. Bobby followed a similar vein about playing time, but most of his off field time is hung up on having only football as an option in life. The whole issue with the playing time of the running backs is one that premieres early, but basically gets swept away as the season goes on. Jamal Scott is a player I wanted more of, because of his positive attitude and what looked to be outstanding effort on the field. But he got relegated at some point, and the show doesn't follow him nearly enough.
The show is at its best though when it followed Carlos Thompson. Thompson's arc is the real drive for people to watch the show. He has his issues throughout the season with injuries and feeling down and out. But he comes back stronger, and becomes a quality leader for the team as the season goes on. Kerry Buckmaster and Emmet Gooden both also have great story arcs, with looks into their personal lives and what drives them to keep progressing on the field, and how this is a tangible way out of their home lives.
Really though the show focused this season much more on Coach Brown than the players and his staff. We are barely introduced to any of the other coaches on staff, with Frank Diaz getting the most time as the QBs coach. His scenes though are mostly him being run over by Malik and Coach Brown, with the look of deer in the headlights in every shot. Kyoshi Harris gets minimal time as the offensive line coach and advisor to Coach Brown, but he seemed to be someone that would have been interesting to follow since the line had issues throughout the season.
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